Neville's Got a Crush?
by LylitheNocturnal
Summary: Neville has had a crush on this girl since their fourth year. Now it's their sixth year, and things aren't looking any better. Will he finally be able to tell her how he really feels, or will he simply accept the seemingly inevitable - that they aren't meant to be?


**J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, only the OCs are mine. This is a rewrite of the first chapter with some alterations.**

_This is the first time I have written from in third person. I will be trying to get as many character's thoughts as possible, including the originals from Rowling. If you feel that anything they do or say is out of character or anything, please let me know and I will try to correct it with some simple suggestions. If you like it, though, and you want more, I would also appreciate hearing that. This is the first time I've written a fanfic in a long time, so be patient. Thank you for any helpful reviews, it's always appreciated._

_Sorry for rambling. I hope you enjoy._

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Peals of laughter filled the compartment. Neville just kissed Ginny on the lips for a dare, and his face was on fire. Playing truth or dare was Carlie's idea, a sixth year Hufflepuff with short, curly blond hair and soft blue eyes. Everyone had pressured Neville into picking dare since he always picks truth. Kissing Ginny was Andrew's idea, another sixth year (this one a Gryffndor), since he knew that Neville didn't like her in that way and that she has a boyfriend.

"I really hope Dean doesn't find out about this. I don't want to be hexed into next week." Neville said with slight chagrin.

"Don't worry, Neville, I won't let him." Ginny spoke up for him, since she knew about Neville's true feelings. Ever since the year of the Tri-Wizard Tournament, he's had a major crush on Carlie. Ginny was the first person he told about it, being one of his closest friends. She's been trying to help him gather the courage to ask Carlie to be his girlfriend, but it's been very difficult. Andrew had found out about Neville's crush by listening in when they were talking about it.

"Well, now it's Carlie's turn. Truth or dare?" Luna asked Carlie. Luna wasn't actually playing, simply watching and asking people if they wanted to pick truth or dare. She knew that if she actually did participate, too many odd things would end up being discussed that would just give certain people more of a reason to make fun of her.

"I guess truth, since I don't really feel like kissing anyone today." Carlie broke out into this cute little laugh that she does when something amuses her.

"Who do you like?" Shelbie spoke up from her silent reverie. She's a seventh year Hufflepuff, and hasn't spoken much today; Ginny thinks it's because she was turned down by her crush, the Slytherin sixth year Abbie Silverline.

Carlie blushed heavily before saying, "Alex Jorne."

Alex Jorne is another Hufflepuff sixth year. A lot of girls find him attractive, but he is a slight coward. He seems to try to follow in Cedric Diggory's steps, but he does not do very well with it. He was one of the people who agreed with the Ministry in saying that Harry was crazy for thinking You-Know-Who was back, up until the Daily Prophet and the Ministry officially announced that he is back. So far this year he has gone around telling people about how he always knew Harry was right.

Needless to say, it kind of stung Neville when Carlie said that she liked him (not seeming the type to like him), but in a way Neville had already known. The way she had talked about Alex throughout the summer in their letters had made Neville very suspicious, and then Ginny had written and confirmed it for him. But Neville couldn't make himself believe it until he heard it specifically from Carlie.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments as everyone tried to think of what to say when Ginny decided that she couldn't take it anymore and stood up saying, "I think I'm going to go change into my robes. I'll see you guys in a bit," She grabbed her bag and headed out of the compartment.

"Well, Andrew, I do believe it's your turn. Truth or dare?" Luna asked him slightly uncomfortably after Ginny left. Even she knew that Carlie's crush was somewhat of a sensitive subject, for Neville especially. Luna and Neville came to terms with their feelings for each other at the end of their fifth year, last year, and decided that they were more like siblings than lovers.

"Dare. You guys know that I'm not afraid of doing anything." Andrew grinned and appeared to puff out his chest, like doing a dare would prove he's brave.

Andrew was there when our group was volunteering to go with Harry to the Department of Mysteries, but cowered out-of-the-way and elected to stay behind than go with them and face true danger. He had said he wasn't feeling good and didn't want to risk endangering the mission, but everyone knew it's because he was afraid. He's a major flirt, somewhat like Sirius Black had been when he went to Hogwarts. He usually doesn't have a girlfriend long, and since he's in Gryffindor he gets approached by more girls than Draco Malfoy.

"All right, fine. I dare you to go kiss Draco Malfoy and then just walk away without a word." Shelbie spoke up when no one else seemed to have any better ideas. She and Ginny had thought this up earlier in private, right after the idea of playing Truth or Dare had come up.

Andrew was absolutely horrified. Neville and Carlie had to bite their lips to keep from laughing out right. He absolutely hates the idea of having to kiss other men, and now he feels that he has to.

"Fine. Let's go." Neville, Andrew, Carlie, and Shelbie went out into the corridor, Luna staying behind to read _The Quibbler_. The four of them made their way down the corridor, carefully searching for Draco's compartment. They finally found it close to the end of the train, and Andrew motioned for the rest of them to get down. It wouldn't work if Draco or one of his goonies saw all of them just standing right outside.

Andrew stood up and straightened himself out before flinging the compartment door open, grabbing the front of Draco's robes, and kissing him on the lips for what seemed a full minute. To those watching, it appeared that the two had slipped in a bit of tongue. Pansy Parkinson looked enraged, but was speechless. Everyone else was shocked. Finally, Andrew released Draco, straightened the front of his robes, and then strode out, closing the door behind him. Draco sat there dumbstruck.

A few compartments down Carlie, Shelbie, and Neville busted out laughing.

"Did I see some tongue in there, Teeran?" Carlie asked, nudging Andrew's shoulder. His face flamed red and he refused vehemently, causing the rest of them to laugh even harder.

On the way back to the compartment the small group bumped into Dean Thomas, who was looking for Ginny and Seamus.

"Have you guys seen either Ginny or Seamus? We were supposed to meet up half an hour ago." He was absolutely distraught.

Neville's face began to redden due to when he had to kiss Ginny for the dare. Carlie noticed his uneasiness and decided to speak up.

"No, Ginny left a while ago to change into her robes and we haven't seen Seamus at all." Her response made Dean even more irritable, but he muttered a thanks before pushing past them.

"Speaking of Ginny, where is she? It doesn't usually take this long for her to change, and we would have seen her on her way back to the compartment." Neville remarked worriedly.

"I'm sure she's fine," Carlie said reassuringly. "She knows her hexes, and can take care of herself. She won't put up with anyone bothering her." Carlie's remark made Neville feel a little better, but he was still a little worried. Shelbie was still a little down, though, and both Neville and Carlie noticed but didn't know how to help.

Right at that moment a tired third year girl ran up to them holding two official notes.

"I'm looking for Neville Longbottom and Shelbie Volen. Professor Slughorn wants you to join him in his compartment at the front for lunch." The girl handed them the slips of paper before running off again.

Shelbie and Neville exchanged confused looks before looking back at Carlie and Andrew. They were just as confused, with a flicker of jealousy showing in Andrew's face.

"Well, go on then. We'll see you later, okay?" Carlie was smiling and waving for them to go on. Neville smiled back sheepishly as Shelbie grabbed his collar and pulled him along with her towards the compartment mentioned in the notes.

Ginny and Harry were there, which solved the question of where she had gone to. When she was trying to find Dean and get back to her original group, Zacharias Smith had stopped her to pester her about what happened at the Ministry last year and she got so annoyed that she hexed him. Professor Slughorn walked up right when she hexed Smith. Instead of getting a detention, she was invited to the lunch because of how well she had executed the hex.

Neville was very uncomfortable throughout the lunch, knowing that he must not have lived up to Professor Slughorn's expectations. For him the experience was rather embarrassing, knowing that compared to Ginny, Harry, and Shelbie, Neville seemed to be somewhat of a joke.

When Shelbie, Ginny, Dean, and Neville left, Neville's spirits were very low, and things only got worse for him. At the compartment they were taken aback by the sight of Alex and Carlie snogging by the window. By this point, Neville was simply disappointed and sad. He thought to himself, 'Of course this would happen. I mean, it's not likely Carlie would fall for me anyway. She hangs out more with Alex since he's a Hufflepuff, meanwhile I'm just Neville from Gryffindor that she barely spends time with.'

Ginny opened the door, causing the two to jump apart. Alex was a little embarrassed, whereas Carlie was blissful.

"Well, I hope you two love birds enjoyed your snog because unless you leave, you're done for today." Ginny said in a slightly teasing tone walking in and sitting down next to Carlie, Dean sitting on the other side of her. Neville sat down next to Dean and Ginny while Shelbie sat across from them next to Alex and Carlie. Then they realized that two people were missing.

"Hey, wait a second. Where's Luna and Andrew?" Neville asked, worried for his best friend, while simply curious about where Andrew went.

Carlie, still extremely happy, replied, "Luna wanted to go sit by herself for a while to see if she could find any wrackspurts, and Andrew decided that he was bored so he went to go find Romilda Vane. That was when Alex came in, wondering if we could talk for a minute. One thing lead to another and, well, yeah." Carlie seemed slightly embarrassed, but everyone figured it was because they had walked in on her snogging Alex.

For the rest of the train ride everyone just talked and laughed, with the exception of one person.

Neville sat there, staring out the window and thinking to himself.

'Things will certainly be interesting this year, that's for sure, but for who? Obviously Harry, but I mean... What will happen for me this year?'

That was the only thought Neville had up until they pulled into the train station at Hogsmeade.

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_Again, feedback is very much so appreciated._

_Thank you for reading, and if you enjoyed it, I will try to get the second installment out as soon as I can._


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